Storyboard_Creator.jpg


http://myths.e2bn.org/story_creator/



Explanation of Resource
The resource allows students to practice creating a storyboard using the computer and the internet. It is an introduction to the format of storyboarding and will familiarise students with the approach they will be taking in order to complete their final assessment of a PowerPoint on the British Colonisation of Australia. Storyboarding is a critical tool to many industries, in particular the film and television industry. It is important as it allows for clarity during development. By having a storyboard, everyone involved will have a clearer understanding of what is expected of them and they will all have a clearer picture of what the overall production will look like (Sotomeyer, 2010). Storyboards also allow for improved quality of the final product, they save time and maintain quality group work ethics. Although this particular resource relates to another topic within the syllabus, it is an excellent introduction to the use of storyboarding as it allows students to be in control of the characters, the visuals and the audio text.

Relevance to Outcomes
Storyboarding is relevant to the English outcomes within this particular lesson. It allows students to work collaboratively on a specific task. The main purpose of storyboarding and ‘this activity is to facilitate team communication during the development process’ (Chapman, 1997). Students are aiming to achieve the outcome of discussing and understanding how they structure their own texts as well as applying their knowledge of the grammatical features of the various text types they are exposed to, in the case fictional recounts.
The second English outcome students are working towards refers to their ability to work effectively in groups and pairs. Storyboarding is very much a collaborative process, similar to their final presentation. Storyboarding allows ‘each member of the team to contribute creatively to the project, which is reflected in the storyboard (Chapman, 1997). Students will adopt a range of roles to encourage smooth interactions within their work. It also discusses the use of a variety of media and the use of various strategies. In this lesson, students will be exploring the use of visual media on the computer, using technology whilst other group members will be researching written information in books. This storyboarding activity will allows students to address these outcomes with success and a clear understanding of what is expected of them. When complete properly, storyboards become a central design that meets the needs of all group members (Sotomeyer, 2010).

Aspect of Literacy
The use of multimodal texts and encouraging students’ use of multiliteracies is becoming increasingly important in schools as they ‘supplement traditional literacy pedagogy by addressing these two related aspects of textual multiplicity’ (Cope & Kalantzis, 2000). Multimodal texts include communication in all forms, but focuses on the interaction and integration of two or more semiotic resources, in this case, visual and audio (O’Halloran & Smith, 2010).
This activity is therefore, a perfect introduction for students to learn about the use of audiovisual media to convey ideas and topics. It is also important that students develop the ability to understand and increase their knowledge of how multimodal texts work and what they are used for. Unsworth (2001) discusses the idea of enabling young learners to develop the critical multimodal literacies that are vital for encouraging students to take an ‘interpretive role in the societies of the information age’.
Multiliteracies encourage students to focus on modes of representing information using a much broader approach than simply using language. ‘Multiliteracies also creates a different kind of pedagogy: one in which language and other modes of meaning are dynamic representational resources constantly being remade by their uses as they work to achieve their purposes’ (Cope & Kalantzis, 2000).


References:

Chapman, B. (1997). Storyboards and Interactive Media. Creating Script-Storyboards for Interactive Multimedia. Online CBT Solutions. Allen Communication
Cope, B. & Kalantzis, M. (2000). Multiliteracies: Literacy learning and the design of social futures. Routledge, London.
O’Halloran, K. & Smith, B. (2010). Multimodal Text Analysis. National University of Singapore. Retrieved September 30th 2010, from http://multimodal-analysis-lab.org/_docs/encyclopedia/01-Multimodal_Text_Analysis-O'Halloran_and_Smith.pdf
Sotomeyer, E. (2010). Storyboards. Retrieved September 29th 2010, from http://www.sarasota.k12.fl.us/bhs/bryan/bryan_story.html
Unsworth, L. (2001). Teaching multiliteracies across the curriculum. Buckingham: Open University Press. (Chapter 3: Describing Visual Literacies)

Resource 5 Annotation – Emily Donlan